


Paper Airplanes

by Aki_Lynn



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Modern AU, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:09:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22918243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aki_Lynn/pseuds/Aki_Lynn
Summary: Claude didn’t believe in gods. But he was pretty sure one was screwing with him right now. That was the only explanation he had for why he was being pushed down the street by a hundred paper airplanes.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 113





	Paper Airplanes

**Author's Note:**

> So random idea came to me while on the way back from work. But it worked so well I just had to. Enjoy this little AU inspired by Disney's short film "Paperman". 
> 
> Plus, I technically still made my quota for at least one work a month. Ha!

“Excuse me. Can someone please grab that for me?”

Claude had been waiting for his train when he heard the vaguely familiar sounding voice. Turning towards it, he found himself with a piece of paper stuck to his face. 

“Oh! I’m sorry, sir.”

Chuckling, he removed the paper from his face, “Don’t worry about it. It just a - Wait. _Teach?_ ” 

There was a beat of silence before recognition grew in the woman’s eyes, “Claude?”

Sure enough, standing in front of him was Byleth Eisner, his former TA at Garreg Mach University. She looked almost the same since the last time he saw her five years ago, right down to the deep teal hair and eyes. Though the suit was new. 

Handing back the paper, Claude smiled, “It’s been awhile, Teach. Still carrying around stacks of paper, I see. Wha’cha doing in Derdriu?”

Rolling her eyes in what he hoped was amusement, Byleth returned the paper to its rightful place in her file before answering, “Claude, I was just a TA. You can drop the nickname. If you must know, I’m here for a meeting with a client for my firm.”

“Nah, I’m rather partial to Teach, _Teach_ ,” Claude winked, “But that must mean you graduated from law school, eh? Congrats.”

A small smile graced her lips as she shook her head. Looking up at him, she said, “Thank you, Claude. That means a lot coming from you. Yes, I graduated a couple years ago and have been working with a firm out in Garreg Mach. What about you? I thought you’d be back in Almyra.”

“Well, I graduated a few years myself, but I got stuck working for my grandfather’s company,” Claude shrugged, “I’m supposed to head back to Almyra in a year or two, though.”

“Riegan International, right?” 

“That’s the one. Gramps got me stuck helping out some of the executives on the board. He thinks it might change my mind. Like that’s going to happen.”

“Is that why you’re carrying all of those,” she asked, gesturing towards the stack of reports in his own hands. 

“You mean these guys,” he smacked the file. Unfortunately, a train chose that moment to enter the station, causing one of his reports to go flying right into her face. 

“Oh shit, Teach! Sorry!” Claude scrambled to grab the paper off her face. But when Byleth opened her eyes, she looked down at the paper and let out a small giggle. He blinked in surprise. In all the time he had spent in her office, he barely ever heard her laugh like that. He missed it. However, he was curious as to what caused her to give that reaction and looked at the paper himself. On the top of the page was a pale pink lip mark. 

Raising an eyebrow, he decided to tease her, “Makeup, Teach? You really are a big shot lawyer now.”She lightly smacked him on the arm, playfully scolding him, “Oh hush. Trust me, if I could, I wouldn’t bother with all of this.” She gestured to her state of dress. 

“I don’t doubt that,” Claude laughed, enjoying this moment of catch up. 

There was a fond smile on her, one he managed to draw out her several times back at the university. However, the smile turned a touch sad as she stepped towards the train. 

“Well, this is my train. Hopefully we’ll run into each other before I have to head back to Garreg Mach.” 

Claude mimicked her sad smile, “Yeah. Hopefully, we will, Teach.”

“Byleth,” she reinforced with playful exasperation. 

He turned away as she went to step onto the train. But a thought flashed in his mind and he quickly turned back to her.

“Hey, wait, By-” but she was already on the moving train, “leth”

All he could do was watch her go, the paper with her mark still in his hand.

* * *

Claude could fully admit that he wasn’t paying any attention to the meeting in front of him. He had a fairly good idea what they were bickering about anyway. No, his mind was completely occupied by Byleth Eisner.

He didn’t want to admit it, but seeing her again brought back his old crush on her to the forefront of his mind. To be honest, he never did get over it. Which was strange since they only knew each other for a year before she graduated from her master’s program and left for law school. But, for whatever reason, he always felt she was the one that got away. In hindsight, it was obvious how much he liked her. He was always in her office asking for help, even if he didn’t need it - which admittedly was most of the time. Eventually, he dropped the pretense all together and just hung out with her as she helped the other students. He liked to think that meant she had a thing for him as well, but the school year ended and after that, she left to go on some sort of family trip before law school, he never saw her again.

That is until today. 

The meeting finally ended and Claude went to his office. It was smaller than the others, but even assistant board members had decent sized offices. It was Riegan International, after all.

Sighing at his desk, he looked down on the report that still had Byleth’s lip stain on it. 

He wished he had asked her for her number so they could properly catch up. He knew she didn’t do social media, and while he had had her number before for school purposes, he no longer did thanks to Lorenz tossing his phone in a fountain during a business conference a few years ago. He would have been more pissed at him if he wasn’t so impressed by the childish and vindictive nature of Lorenz’ revenge. That and he couldn’t blame the guy. He did take a rather compromising picture of the purple-haired man after he drank one too many the night before. 

While he had managed to get back most of his contacts, he was never able to get back Byleth’s. He could have got it if he tried hard enough, but he didn’t want to be that guy that tracked down a girl’s information like that. So he had simply resigned to pining by his lonesome. 

Suddenly, a gust of wind surprised him and almost blew the paper out the window. Catching it before it could be lost, he let out a sigh of relief. However, when he looked up and out the window, he froze. 

Just across the street and a story down was Byleth. He couldn’t believe it. Of all the places in Derdriu, _that’s_ where her meeting was? For a moment or two, he just stared until he got his wits about him. He couldn’t let this chance pass him by.

Hoping to get her attention, he opened the window fully and waved. Realizing she was too engrossed in her meeting and he looked like a crazy person, he sat back down and contemplated how to get her attention.

He turned his gaze towards his desk. For a moment, he was at a loss, but saw a stack of papers for his printer. And idea formed and quickly he grabbed a sheet. Folding it, he made the perfect paper airplane. Heading back to the window, he aimed carefully and threw it. Only for it to hit a bird on the way.

“Seriously?”

Grabbing another piece of paper, he tried again. And again. And again. But if it wasn’t a bird, it was the wind. Apparently, trying to gauge how to properly throw a paper plane across a street was rather difficult.

On his tenth try, a gruff voice grumbled behind him, “And just what the hell are you doing, boy?”

Turning around, Claude found his grandfather staring at him with equal parts annoyed and confused.

“That is an excellent question.”

Clearly unamused by his grandson’s antics, Oswald von Riegan scolded the young man, “Were you even paying attention to the meeting today?”

“Of course I was. Gloucester and Edmund were arguing like usual and Albrecht was being unhelpful.”

Oswald shook his head, “Well then, if you were paying attention, I suggest you stop fooling around and come up with a proposal for next quarter.” 

“Aye, aye, sir.” His grandfather simply left the room, unwilling to play into his grandson’s tomfoolery. 

As soon as the door was shut, Claude was back at throwing airplanes.

Unfortunately, he still kept just missing. It was maddening. Over and over, he tossed the planes, but none of them were hitting their mark. Apparently, archery didn’t translate into airplane throwing.

Eventually, Claude went to grab another sheet, but felt only the paper holder. Looking down, he realized he used his entire stock of paper. Almost frantically, he turned back to the window to see Byleth standing up, most likely to leave the office. 

_Dammit!_

Searching for any paper to use, his hand came across paper. It was the report Byleth’s lip stain was still on. A quick glance back and he came to his decision. Folding the report, he went to throw it… only for it to be blown out of his hand.

Scrambling to catch it, Claude could only watch as it fell to the ground below. 

Looking back up, he saw Byleth leaving the office. Realizing she was leaving, he turned to head downstairs. But his path was blocked by his grandfather.

“And just where are you going, boy?”

“I-” Claude struggled to come up with any good explanation.

“Honestly, just what are you doing?” Oswald loudly grumbled, “Wasting resources like this. Don’t you realize that the others are watching you? If you’re going to take over this company, you need to show some responsibility, boy?”

“I didn’t realize that I’m supposed to take over the company,” Claude said just a tad bitter. 

Oswald scoffed, “Of course you are! After Godfrey’s death, the only one to take over the company is you.”

“That’s not what we agreed to,” Claude pointed out, “In fact, I’ve been here way longer than I should have. Or did you forget that I have responsibilities somewhere else.”

“Your current obligations are here! If you’re not going to take this seriously, then I’ll just find someone else to take your place.”

Annoyed, Claude stopped to consider his grandfather’s threat. While he had been here longer than he wanted, he had to admit that the experience had been invaluable. Plus, he was certain his grandfather’s been preparing for him to take over. The amount of backlash and backpedaling his grandfather and the company would have to do if he left was quite a bit.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Byleth leaving the building.

“Okay then,” Claude said and grabbed his jacket. 

As he passed his grandfather, Oswald nearly sputtered, “Where the hell are you going?!”

Opening the door, he threw a smirk, “I’m going after something _I_ want for a change.”

Leaving his grandfather speechless, he rushed through the office and down the stairs. 

_Please. Please still be there._

Once he was through the main doors, Claude crossed the street as fast as he could, avoiding traffic and nearly getting hit by a car or two. But as he made it to the other side, he saw no trace of Byleth. 

As he turned around and around, he spotted something. A paper airplane with a pale pink lip stain. Frustrated, he grabbed the airplane and threw it as hard as he could.

“So much for that,” he muttered as he walked away.

* * *

_Ugh! Seriously! Must I do everything for these fools!_

* * *

Claude didn’t believe in gods. But he was pretty sure one was screwing with him right now. That was the only explanation he had for why he was being pushed down the street by a hundred paper airplanes.

It had only been a few minutes after he left the office. He had been contemplating on what to do after walking out on his grandfather - something he was sure his parents would probably be thrilled about - when the airplane he threw somehow found its way on his leg. He simply threw it away, only for it and several more to stick to him. 

_What the hell?_

No matter what he did, more and more stuck to him and if he was feeling it right, they were actually pushing him in the other direction. He wasn’t going crazy. He saw the strange looks passerby were giving him. This was actually happening. 

Suddenly, a wave of them stuck to him and he was being pushed down the street at a rather alarming rate. He was pretty concerned that he’d get hit by a bus or something.

But it didn’t stop there. 

He was pushed towards the train station. And then into a train. He knew he looked absolutely ridiculous covered in paper airplanes, but the damn things wouldn’t let him leave the seat they pushed him into. Wherever they were herding him towards, they were pretty determined he got there.

The only question was where.

* * *

For Byleth, it had been quite the surprise to find Claude at the train station. If she was going to be honest, she had rather missed him.

Sure, he could be a little too cheeky for his own good, but he was a good student and after awhile, she found him to be a pretty good friend. Thanks to her reserved nature, not many people took it upon themselves to get to know her. And yet, Claude did. She knew he was too good of a student to constantly ask her for help, but she enjoyed his company. Over time, it became obvious that the pretense of learning had been dropped and she allowed him to hang out with her during her office hours. She probably shouldn’t have done that, but what the school board didn’t know didn’t hurt them.

She had actually been quite sad when she left for her trip and later law school. She enjoyed his jokes, his stories of Almyra and honestly, just his presence. She had hoped he’d stay in contact after, but she was sure that life simply got in the way. After all, she knew he was supposed to be back in Almyra by now. He had told her of his deal with his grandfather. For him to still be in Fodlan, something must have happened.

Whatever that was, she was grateful. It meant she had the chance to see him again. Though she hadn’t expected to see him look so grown up. Between the suit and beard, she saw that the last five years had done him well, even if he did look a little haggard.

She’ll admit; it was rather hard to focus on her meeting after running into him. Memories of that year as his TA just kept coming back to her. Plus, she was sure that something was hit the building just outside the window - multiple times. 

Once she was finished with her meeting, she decided to explore the city. It had been awhile since she had been in Derdriu. And if she was being honest, she was hoping to run into Claude again.

But something strange happened. 

She was looking at some flowers when something landed in one of the bouquets. She had to do a double-take when she looked up. Sitting there was a paper airplane: one with a lip stain the exact same shade as her lip gloss. 

_Is that?_

Before she could grab it to examine it, it suddenly flew up and circled around her. 

_Odd._

It didn’t seem to follow any natural flight pattern for a paper airplane. But it almost seemed playful - like Claude. It also looked like it wanted her to follow it. 

It danced around her as it flew away. Curious, Byleth chased after it. 

The airplane led her down the street and up towards the train station. And it didn’t stop there. The thing actually flew into one of the trains and led her further into one until it finally stopped at a seat near a door. By the time it stopped, the train was already moving.

“Just where do you want me to go?” she asked quietly. 

Before long, the train stopped and Byleth stepped out. She tried to see if the plane would fly again, but apparently it no longer wanted to. _Was this where it wanted me to go?_

“Um… hey, Byleth.”

Recognizing the voice, Byleth’s head snapped up and she was rewarded with one of the more ridiculous sights she ever seen.

In front of her stood Claude, covered in paper airplanes.

She couldn’t help it. She laughed so hard her sides started to hurt. 

“It’s been awhile since I’ve heard you laugh like that,” Claude smiled as he finally managed to remove himself from the planes. 

“Do I want to know?” 

“Eh, probably not,” Claude laughed, “but I’ll tell you if you get a coffee with me.”

Byleth laughed again and shook her head, “I’d love to.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute little idea I had. Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> I got a couple other ideas that I'm working on that hopefully I can get to relatively soon. But at least one of them I want to finish Cindered Shadows first. 
> 
> Thank you reading!


End file.
